Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Edward Cracroft Lefroy b. 1855

A Shepherd Maiden

ON shores of Sicily a shape of Greece!

Dear maid, what means this lonely communing

With winds and waves? What fancy, what caprice,

Has drawn thee from thy fellows? Do they fling

Rude jests at thee? Or seekest thou surcease

Of drowsy toil in noonday shepherding?

Enough: Our questions cannot break thy peace;

Thou art a shade,—a long-entombéd thing.

But still we see thy sun-lit face, O sweet,

Shining eternal where it shone of yore;

Still comes a vision of blue-veinéd feet

That stand forever on a pebbly shore;

While round, the tidal waters flow and fleet

And ripple, ripple, ripple, evermore.